And a Partridge in a...

I want to take a picture of every spring flower I see. I saw a house the other day that had an azalea (pinkish purple) next to a forsythia bush (bright yellow) next to some small tree that was just leafing out (bright green leaves), and if it wasn't on such a busy street, I would have stopped to photograph the color combination because it looked beautiful.

I'm kind of in love with our Cleveland Pear tree. It's only a few years old, and it's already ginormous. It has wonderful green leathery leaves and the white blossoms make it look like it's covered in snow. We walked by a restaurant in Ferndale last weekend, and they had twinkle lights on their pear trees, and at night, they totally looked snow covered.

Here are a few pics:




If you want to see some seriously beautiful TTV pictures of springy flowers, go check out my bud Alli's blog. Aren't her pics dreamy???

So back to my pear tree-- we had this tree planted in the right of way (which is the area between your property line and the street) by our City Forestry Department for a measly $150 or something which is really CHEAP especially since they do the planting in the right of way. Lots of municipalities especially in Michigan offer this type of thing, so check with your local Parks & Rec or Forestry division.

Speaking of Parks & Rec, do any of you watch the NBC show??? If you do, it is LITERALLY my job on TV. Well, I'm more Mark Brendanawicz (who's a city planner), but I think the writers should contact me because I could give them sooooooooo much material. :) If you haven't seen it, you can watch most of the eps on Hulu.


I love all the characters, especially Aziz Ansari's. Ryan's mind was almost blown when he heard AA would be starring in a movie with one of his other faves, Danny McBride AND it's being shot here in Michigan.

Ok, that's all kiddos. I hope your weekend isn't flying by like mine seems to be. Bleh. Plus, the weather isn't too great, so that's a bummer. Good news is that Ryan's taking Q to Jungle Java tomorrow morning (aka Lord of the Flies in a strip mall), and I don't have to go! Yippee!!!

xo

Annnnnnnnnnnnd Scene!

So you guys are all right. I have received emails (thanks Denise, Theresa, and Michelle) making sure everything was A-Ok. It is! I promise. :) Just getting caught up with LIFE. Feeling disorganized and unmotivated is not a great combo. I feel a little like Jessie Spano on pep pills (except I'm not really scared...).

But I got a grrrrrrreat little pick-me-up from Alli yesterday. She sent me a postcard from Greece.


On the back, there was a little dialogue that went something like this:

-Woman on left: "oh yeah, check out my ruffle."
-Man on left: "She and her stupid ruffle. No one ever admires my man stockings."
-Woman in center: "why can't I have a ruffle like that?"
-Man in center: "What a ruffle *dreamy sigh* Anyone want to change partners?"
-Children: "How long do we have to stand here awkwardly?"
-Couple on right: "What the hell are we doing here? Dear God, please let Vesuvius erupt and put an end to our misery."
AND SCENE

I giggled all day about the ruffle. Snort.

We decided at the beginning of the summer that we weren't doing a vacation this season. The girls are horrid in the car, they don't sleep well in other locations, and it's just not fun with them. V has to be shadowed all the time, and Q is, well, three. And wherever we go, we'd need at LEAST two rooms and even that's difficult because the girls totally wake each other up. I know, I know. Woe is us.

Anyway, two weeks ago, we'd had it and decided we needed to make a break for it. I still have NO IDEA how we got it, but we found a vacant cottage only 1 hr 10 min from our house. Right on Lake Huron. It was reallllly fun. The water was freezing, and the temps were only in the 60s, but both girls had their own room, and so did we. They slept GREAT and were perfect in the car. We so needed a break. Only bad side is I ate my weight in s'mores and Ashby's ice cream.


That's about all. I've been party planning my Twilight Screening event for next weekend. Seriously, this is going to be the mother of all Twilight parties. I'm making up games and designing the party favors as we speak! Here's a little taste of one of the favors...Ryan said he is officially scared of my dorkiness. HA!!! I found small bottles of body glitter at Michael's-- 6 for $2.00! They were in the princess birthday favor section, so they needed new labels:


Happy Hump Day!!!

Giveaway Winner!

We have winners! First, my Facebook friend winner:

Luckily, I am seeing Val tomorrow at the Craft Revival, so I can hand deliver her goodies-- some of which I still have to make tonight.

Second, my bloggy friend winner:

Renee! Yayyyyyyyy. Renee, if you could email me your mailing address, I'll get you some shtuff soon.

And don't forget you can still get 10% off for being a bloggy friend until the end of the month. Just type "bloggy BFF" in the message to seller and wait for a revised Paypal update!

One last minute plug...I'll be shopping here tomorrow afternoon:

Become A Girl Land Fan + Spring Giveaway Bonanza!

I need some morrrrrre Facebook Fans. If you become a Girl Land fan between now and next Friday, April 17 (or are already a fan), I will FB message you with a discount code for 20% off your total purchase (before s&h) AND you will be entered into a Spring-licious Giveaway! Think button candies, magnets, and some kawaii goodness with spring flair. You can either click the link along my left sidebar, or go to my FB Girl Land page here.

Don’t have a Crackbook account? Is it a bit too “big brother” for you? Don’t fret. I’ll still give you a 10% discount for being my bloggy friend.


Just enter the above code in the “message to seller” and wait to pay—I will send you a revised invoice.

In addition, it has been entirely way too long since I’ve done a giveaway on this blog. So if you comment on this post with something you’re looking forward to this Spring (be it flowers in your garden, a trip, a Springy craft project, upcoming movie, etc.), I will enter you in a second giveaway. And, as always, if you link to this post on your blog, let me know about it, and you will get THREE entries! One person is eligible to win both contests.

Phew! I’m spent. xo

Viv's Nursery

Deanna from The Baby Gardner has perfect timing. I was literally *just* going through V's baby book making a mental note of all the pictures I had to add (including pics of her room). Then I read Deanna's call for pics of vintage spaces for her Eye Candy Giveaway. I emailed her off some pics, and V's nursery was featured today. And for participating, look at what I received in the mail Saturday! What a lovely surprise.

If you haven't seen The Baby Gardner blog or shop, click around. Such adorable stuff!!! Thanks, Deanna! We're honored. Mwah.

More Basement & A Cheshire Kat Giftie!

So here's another Polyvore amalgam I have created. This is more piece-specific. What do you think? Too much?? Too many themes? I think the curtains may push it over the edge, and I would only use them to give the illusion of larger windows, but I still may need to nix.


Basement 2 by Girl Land

Look at the lovely care package I got from my friend, Kat!!!! I am a bad bloggy friend. I didn't send any gifties out this year. I'll get'cha back, Kat. I love how she packages her magnets and pins in these cassette cases. Too cute! Thank you soooooo much! Big smooches.

Raqua REALLY Rawks!

EEEEEEKKKK! I received my package today from Miss Holly. Oh. My. Gawd. Take a gander (sorry for the blurry pics and the horrible lighting).

My Twilight handmade cards:

Q loved her way cute smock!

and also liked playing her "drum", a super cute tin of raspberry green tea:

A bib for Viv:

A handmade card (how adorable is this?):

And many more pics on my Flickr page!

I know I promised a DUCF sneak peek-- I'm a little bummed at how cluttered it all looks. I'm kind of getting tired of my table layout. I need to get a little innovative but don't know how. Ryan walked in and said, "Yeesh!" I think the glitter caught him off guard.

Hearted Blogs

The lovely Susie has given me an award as one of her hearted blogs! Yay! Thanks, Susie, I love yours too. You are one of my sewing inspirations…I WILL learn someday.

Here are the award rules:

(1) The winner can put the logo on their blog.

(2) Link the person you received your award from.

(3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

(4) Put links of those on yours.

(5) Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated.

Here are my nominees! I tried to pick people I haven’t tagged before…

Alli of One Pearl Button blog: Great ideas, fun blog, always love reading her comments on MY blog (thanks, Alli!). Whoops! I just realized I already tagged you for my weird food post.

Kate of Scandalicious Suburbia blog: One of my college roommies. Being around her is very therapeutic and calming. I find her posts that way too.

Deanna of The Baby Gardner blog and shop: I just found her through Heather (another of my faves!). And I just won a contest of hers! Such cute stuff in her shop. Lucky me.

Amy of Early Bird Special blog and Etsy shop: Provides regular embroidery inspiration.

Gina of Doe-c-Doe blog : All around vintage/graphics/crafty inspiration and great eye candy.

Hannah of Knick Knacks & Ric Rac blog and Made with Love by Hannah shop (dig those GREAT skirts!!!!!) —see all of above. Plus, she shares my intense mushroom love.

Candace of Sparkle Power blog and shop: Great vintage and crafty posts, and I love reading about her girls who are just a titch older than Q & V.

Bloggy Fun

I had some fun with Google Analytics this morning. Since inception of my little blogiverse, I have had visitors from 109 countries (or territories) and over 19,000 hits! I just think that’s so cool, you guys. Thank you!!!

Appearing last on my list was one visitor from the sovereign state of Andorra. Do you know where that is on the map, class? Me neither, so I wiki’ed it.

Some fun facts about Andorra:

+Andorra has the highest life expectancy in the world (83.5 years).
+Its currency is called “diners” and only a small amount was minted.
+“Andorra” is derived from an Arabic word meaning “forest”
+And they legally recognized same sex civil unions in 2005. How bout that?

Also thought I’d throw in some weird keywords people have used to make their way to my little ol’ blog (though they are not as fun as other’s):

+“My sister dressed me as a girl”
+“Mom booty”
+“Biggest girl turd movies”
+“Hobo Land”
+And my personal favorite, “Elf boobs” (a fetish, perhaps?)

There were actually lots of searches with porn-related titles. Probably because of the GIRL Land, a post about finding out we were having a girl (XX chromosomes) too, and my obsession with ye old BOOB tube! :)

I’ve been inspired by Jenna to revamp my blog. Since we aren’t going anywhere this weekend due to one teething infant and one (as of this morning) puking 2 year old, maybe I shall try my hand at it.

Lastly, I realize I haven’t had a giveaway in a lonnnnnnng time. I’m thinking of maybe 3 giveaways. Maybe one of vintage items, one of kawaii items, and one for a Girl Land Gift Certificate??? I’m aiming for my 300th post although that’s not for 20 more posts—need to step it up a bit.

Everyone have a lovely, lovely holiday weekend. I’m sad to see summer go, but I am excited for fall at the same time.

Skinny Bitches

I've been debating on whether I want to make myself officially accountable. I have FIFTY pounds to lose, so I need to get off my ever lovin' ass. Period. I'm doin it. Here's a start.

Weight Watchers online fizzled out. I can't do it by myself. I get overwhelmed too quickly. I need to suck it up and try to get to an aerobics class stat. But I did go sign up for WW meetings. Let me show you what I'm dealing with here. Ugh (my hair looks horrid too):

And here's my lowest weight about 50 lbs ago when I visited my friend in San Diego three years ago right before I got pregnant with Q.

Yep, I weighed less at 29 than I did in high school! I think this shall be my motivation.

Thanks for listening to my "woe is me" post...but "woe is me" shall be no more! All I can do is keep trying, right???

And Speaking of Speaking of Ugly Children....

I'm sooooooooo with Cristin on this topic! Aside from politics, there are subjects that are just taboo. More specifically, I believe there are way more ugly babies and children in this world than cute.

As you know, we've been working on potty training Q. She has become obsessed with the book Once Upon a Potty, and I was reading it about 4 times a day at least. I found the DVD at the library yesterday, and guess what we've been watching incessantly?

I wish I hadn't opened Pandora's box because the thing haunts my dreams. After the cartoon, there is a "Potty Song" which features several of THE UGLIEST children I've ever seen in my life. I hope none of those kids are readers of my blog-- they are probably like 20 or so by now, but I'm SORRY, their parents should be ashamed of themselves. It would be ok if they just let them roam the streets like most ugly kids, but the point that they actually put their children in a DVD to share their ugliness with the world is just wrong. It's like someone said, "This tastes bad, taste this."

Without further ado, Ugly kid #1:


What makes it worse is that's a boy, "Nicholas". I'll bet that kid gets his ass whooped on a daily basis if he still looks like that.

I forgot to take a pic of Ugly Kid #2, but he is homely as hell and has bright red hair and, even as an infant, he looks like he smells like B.O. His name is Kevin.

And la piece de resistance, Ugly Kid #3.



That's a GIRL, "Emily". I had a dream last night about those toddler fangs of hers. Yeesh!

Since I am on a meany roll, let me tell you about my quasi-bad experience with Alchemy. Just annoying more than anything I guess. I said I wanted these mushroom bookends made because I can't find them anywhere.

I accepted a bid, was told I'd get design sketches, never received them, then simply received a pic of the finished product after the fact (well, THIS was the finished product; the picture I received was entirely different/weird colors):


Yeah, they're cute, but not at all resembling the pic I had shown. And I was stuck. She wouldn't refund my money, only credit to her store which wasn't really my taste (to put it nicely). Oh well. Win some, lose some. I'll make do with the phallic bookends (poor me, right?).


Lastly, I'm so excited I found some cheap blocks so I can make something that's been floating around my head since I bought this cute LRRH puzzle last summer. Time to brainstorm!!!!


Happy Hump Day, All!!!

********EDIT: AWWWWWW, SNAP!!!!!!! I JUST FOUND THE POTTY SONG ON YOUTUBE!

Oohing and Aahing

What did I do to deserve you all???? Look at what the talented Miss Heather sent Vivi:

She sooooo luvs it already! In fact, I was just thinking she needed some sort of "lovey" to hold because she loves chewing on her burp cloths. She loves how soft the red side is. Mmmm.

And look what else!!!! How sweet. I mentioned this stroller blankie in one of my LRRH posts! I wasn't fishing for you to give it to me, Heather, I swear!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) But I do love it so much. I can't wait to show it off.

Thank you, Heather. You all are tooooo sweet. Hope everyone's weekend was grand!

Gifties!

Hadddddd to show you what the sweetheart Kat made for Baby V!!!!!!!!!! Can't you just DIE? It's the perfect size and you love the Girl Land signature colors, no?

It's so amazing how lovely and wonderful and generous my friends in this blogosphere of ours are. Here's a little peek at the Q donning the beautiful outfit lovingly created by Jessie that I previously mentioned.

The paper is Snow and Graham (my ab fave) and covered a super cute bird-themed gift from my bro, SIL, and niece. Of course, I neglected to take pics of the outfits which were sooooo adorable. Mental note to take pic and share. You will die when you see one of the outfits from Petit Bateau.

Thank you, everyone!!!

Tees for Two

So I told Jessie that I loved the outfits she made back in September and that I'd love to buy one for Q this spring. She told me she would make one for Q as a gift (how generous is she?), but she went above and beyond generous, that's for sure! We were out of town this weekend, but guess what greeted me when we got home today????

That would be a spring outfit for Q, a bib and onesie for Vivan, AND some totally cute and kawaii Japanese mushroom candy. That shirt for Q KILLS ME. You can see more pictures here. So cute and so extremely thoughtful. I was so giddy! I tried to get Q to model, but she was being a super turd after the car ride home. Another day, I suppose. Thank you so much, Jessie!!!

Despite his recent conversion to pescetarianism, Ryan is making an exception and continuing the tradition of corned beef and cabbage. Our house smells very beefy right now (ugh), but the finished product is worth it. He makes a great honey mustard glaze for the brisket too. Mmmmmm...red meat. You can see the reflection of the slab in the left pot below. Heh.

T-A-G

Oh, how fun. Mary Helen says she's been lurking on my blog (yay), and came out of Lurkville to tag me! She has two very nifty Etsy shops, Scribble Nation (dig that Scarlet on the Toilet) and Green Dreams. Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules. (You can find the Etsy shop and blog for my tagger above).

2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).

4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Without further ado:

1. I have crazy fingers. The ring fingers on both my hands are really double jointed. Like to the point that they look deformed and I can't hold them out straight. My hands are kinda crazy looking anyway, but the fingers push them over the edge. They are so bad that when I play the piano (I only had 3 years or so of lessons-- not a Mozart by any stretch of the imagination), sometimes they lock up, and I can't bend them. Furthermore, Ryan had a hard time getting my ring on during our wedding due to this problem.















2. I used to have REALLY BIG HAIR.
And not good Amy Winehouse bouffant big hair. Like early 90s really really bad hair. Like New Jersey girl big hair. I'm cringing while posting these pictures, but we're all friends here, right? RIGHT??!! Let me give a disclaimer: growing up in a small town, I was very sheltered. I listened to music like Color Me Badd, Bell Biv Devoe, and New Kids on the Block. I never had even HEARD of The Cure or The Smiths until I went to college. Furthermore, I never even knew anyone who had smoked pot until I was 19 (although I did drink my share of Boon's Farm, don't get me wrong). So anyway, I watched a lot of Dance Party USA, and I thought this is what cool girls looked like. Oh goodness.


3. I didn't get to see Quinn be born. I was scheduled for a c-section because she was breech. I was very excited about this because I did not want to go into labor (but I would have never ASKED for a c-section, really). However, when the anesthesiologist (who was a real d*ck, by the way) went to give me the spinal, he couldn't get it in the right spot. I thought it was because I was too much of a fatty (I'd gained 60 lbs), but my doctor assured me they've been successful in much larger women (niiice). After trying for the fifth time, with my O.B. and two other woman residents holding my hands and drying my tears (the most pain I've felt in my entire life), he decided he couldn't do it. I was relieved by that point, but then they just knocked me out, pulled her out, and Ryan wasn't even allowed to be in the room. I woke up, and there she was! I'm still not sure she's mine...


4. Although I am probably one of the most celebrity-crazed people I know (besides Ruth), I have had limited brushes with fame. I have met 4 actors from All My Children at random autograph signings which really do not count. I saw Lily Tomlin in a Las Vegas casino in 1996. Oh, and I once saw Paris Hilton (before she became famous or well, infamous) at an after-party for a really bad movie in which her then-fiance, Jason Shaw, starred (this wasn't the party, but it was around this time period).



5. I took 4 years of French in high school and one semester in college, but when we went to France 3 years ago, I was able to get us around. There was not one time when people did not understand me, however, there was not one time that I understood what they said back to me in French. Also, I really like French people. They were very kind to us when were there. There is a bakery called La Tropezienne that we visited every morning while in Avignon for du chocolat (hot chocolate) and almond croissants. Yum!


6. My husband and I had our first "date" after an urban planning presentation we gave. We went to the MSU dairy store for ice cream, and he dropped his on the ground while trying to pay and hold his ice cream at the same time. It was dorky cute. He proposed to me on the front sidewalk of the MSU Dairy store 3 years later.

7. I am an Urban Planner for an inner ring suburb of Detroit that has a population of approximately 76,000 people. I would never quit my job because I like it, and if I didn't work, I would probably lay around on the couch all day because I'm THAT lazy. I review site plans for building additions, parking lot expansions, equipment locations on commercial properties, and co-locations on cell towers. I also do site inspections when brand new buildings are constructed to ensure the entire property was built per their approved site plan. I alone assign every new address for every new house and building built in the city (such power, ha). I am a member of the Eight Mile Boulevard Association which borders our city on one side, but I think Eminem is a total d-bag.

Ok! I hope the recipients of my tag don't find this chain letter-ish. If you don't wanna do it, that's okay. However, I enjoyed participating!!!

I am tagging:

Jessie of Sweet Jessie Etsy shop and blog.

Amy & Val of Make Out Goods Etsy shop and blog.

Sarah of Misadventures of Mama and Jack blog.

Amanda of A. Bel Emporium (dig them kitschy miniatures), A. Bel Studio, and Every Little Thing blog.

Kat of Cheshire Kat Etsy shop and blog.

Felicia of Fluffy Flowers Etsy shop and blog.

Melissa of Relish Dress Etsy Shop and blog and check out her new Relish Dress bridal!